Attention, New Yorkers: Swiss shoe label Le Majordome has landed on the Upper East Side. Specializing in entirely bespoke footwear, the Swiss brand just opened its first stateside location on Madison Avenue nearly a decade after it was founded by Gian-Luca Cavigell.
Consider the storefront-meets-workshop your new plug for made-to-order shoes. Offering silhouettes including loafers, lace-up boots, and derbies, Le Majordome's output allows customers to personalize virtually every aspect of a shoe, from its leather to its topstitching to its sole.
The possibilities are boundless — during my visit to the newly opened shop, co-owner Daniel Bucheli showed me photos of especially eye-catching orders featuring a mix of metallic and neon leathers.
"What sets Le Majordome apart is that the label walks the line of a contemporary fashion aesthetic and traditional craftsmanship," Bucheli says, explaining that each pair of shoes is made in Spain using time-consuming techniques like Goodyear welting.
"No corners are cut during the process."
Speaking of the process, it's rather straightforward. After selecting one of many base silhouettes displayed on the showroom floor, customers can specify any tweaks they'd like to make — color, outsole, midsole, and more included. Once a design is selected, a very futuristic machine scans your foot measurements to ensure the perfect fit.
Le Majordome recently launched a curated ready-to-wear collection but the bulk of business rests on its bespoke service.
By focusing on made-to-order footwear, the label cuts down on waste and hopes to create products that will last a lifetime — in fact, the Madison Avenue output also provides shoe repair and maintenance services, extending the lifecycle of Le Majordome's shoes.
"The current players in the fashion market, even in the luxury space, act more like mass producers whose primary goal is to sell as much as possible with the lowest margins, and this sadly comes at the expense of quality and a higher cost to the end consumer," Bucheli says of Le Majordome's slow-fashion ethos.
And it really is slow — from conception to delivery, bespoke shoes take around 10 weeks to land in customers' hands.
Some might be too impatient to wait it out, but for me, the 10-week window makes my order feel all the more special.
As I type this, I'm imagining my chocolate-brown penny loafers, complete with a treaded sole and tonal stitching, being packed up across the ocean in Spain. When they finally arrive, I know they'll be perfect, inside and out.
